In past few months I have been to several rather drunken parties, including a close friend of mine’s 18th. The problem with all these parties is the morning after. “I am never going to drink again” The most common words uttered from my mouth after a night of bright lights. That threat regularly lasts for a few days, once it lasted for about 8 hours. After the exams are over I shall be attending the biggest party of all, Glastonbury.

Recently I have found myself greatly interested in the politics of this flailing nation. I watched those TV debates between the leaders of the parties, all I thought was they acted like squabbling children. The Lib Dems seemed to be gaining popularity and momentum, but when voting came they did worse than previous on seats gained even though their share of the vote increased. The News went crazy when we gained this ‘thing’ called a Hung Parliament, but was this not obvious with the Tories not being popular enough to take the majority. I can’t watch 5 seconds of Sky News with out shouting “Bloody Murdoch”, I would say something more but I am scared his secret police will hunt me down and i will never be seen again. Why did we need coverage of a car driving along the road, wow it has the Prime Minister in it, but no one ever follows my car. As Brown gave his farewell speech my opinion of him didn’t change, I have always felt a great deal of pity for a man who has been given the job to clean up the mess left behind by Blair. Politics the rich man’s game.

I saw Iron Man 2 yesterday and to say I was underwhelmed would be an understatement. The plot was a load of old bollocks, nobody really knew what was going on and I am pretty sure in the attempt to make a slight back story they actually missed a glaring plot choice. The action felt forced throughout  and the final show down was  boring with a villain who was interesting for most of it, just simply butchered by poor plotting. I will give Robert Downey Jnr his credit he plays the narcissistic lead with the performance we have come to expect from him. My biggest problem with this film was Samuel L Jackson, who had no need to be there and gave such and over the top performance that I didn’t want him to be there.

Bye

The film is based loosely on the comic Kick-Ass (A surprise, I know) and has been directed and produced by Mathew Vaughn. Vaughn fell out with the studio and so funded the film himself. This gamble paid off big time, without a studio who’s only aim is to make money breathing down his back, Vaughn was able to do what the hell he wanted. No worry of the men in suits not liking his direction, no need for crappy little plastic figures. An independent film that doesn’t feel independent.

The film opens with a Spiderman style monologue, but without Toby Maguire’s whiney voice moaning about loving a girl who only has two letters for a name (talk about 2D characters). A clever little joke starts the film on a high which it maintains for its 2 hour running time. We are introduced to the hero of the piece Dave Lizewski, who’s most impressive ability is being invisible to girls which is made clear with a painful moment with the girl he fancies. Dave has become sick and tired with how the world screws him over, after once again he is mugged by 2 thugs. Dave buys a wetsuit of the internet and hey-ho Kick-Ass is born, well kinda. Most of Kick-Ass’ early adventures are purely invented in his head but as he says “Like serial killers, after awhile imaging just aint good enough”. His first encounter doesn’t end well with him being knifed and hit by a car. This results in Dave gaining metal bones (homage to Wolverine) and deadened nerve endings. After this Dave then tries to use Kick-Ass to impress Katie, but this just ends with Katie believing Dave to be gay. We then get to meet Dig Daddy and more importantly Hit-girl. These two characters drive the story forward and provide many of the top gags, the first time we meet them Dig Daddy shoots her in the chest. Nicholas Cage looks for the first time in a long time to be enjoying himself, playing Big Daddy who “looks like batman, but isn’t batman”. Hit-Girl has caused much controversy as a swearing and ultra violent 11-year-old, I personally found that she stole every scene she was in,could she be the most charismatic vigilante in any superhero film ever?  She is set to become an icon, and she can’t even watch the film. Christopher Mintz-Plasse plays the son of main villian Mark Strong, who in an elaborate plan becomes a fake hero to snare Kick-Ass. I was expecting a change of opinion of this character, but he ends the film with a hunger for revenge on Kick-Ass.

The pace moves fast and brilliantly held together with little comic book visuals. At no point watching this film did I believe that it was real life. Critics have said that they thought it would be a real life lesson in not becoming a superhero, but it delivers a false view where the center character does not learn that violence is bad. I’m sorry, but any film where a guy getting slaughtered  in a car crusher or a single hero taking on a room full of goons is going to be realistic. The violence is stylised and funny, at many times it was painfully funny. There is a running joke about a bazooka and hit-girl’s ability to not get hit by anything.

Kick-Ass is a clever film that plays dumb. It manages to take the piss out of every other superhero film but unlike Superhero Movie it actually has its own story and comedy that is funny. Kick-Ass does what most superhero films try to fail at, to be entertaining. It’s not poo faced like the modern Batman films, it’s not whinny like Spiderman or just plain stupid like Fantastic Four. If there is a funnier and more entertaining film in 2o10 then it is going to be a bloody perfect film. With a sequel in the pipe line it will be a fair feat to to match the high standards set here, but I say bring it on.

Kinge

10) The Men Who Stare at Goats.
Ewan Mcgregor’s second film in the list, a better performance from the ex-jedi. He seems to play the wide-eyed innocent follower with true passion and produces a truly believable character. The show belongs to the three older actors: Clooney, Bridges and Spacey. Clooney plays the ex-soldier who became disillusioned when he was forced to kill a goat using psychic powers. Bridges plays the old boss who went all hippy on a trip to find a new way of weaponry, so he starts a new age strategy. MK ULTRA (Muse tune). Spacey adds the guy who wants to use MK ULTRA for war. It’s a good laugh and its easy to see that Clooney and Bridges can have good fun in a crazy world. Highlight of the film involves a weapon that looks mundane and boring but can be used to cause pain in  a million ways, much to the upset of Mcgregor.

9) Funny People
This film got attacked by critics because it wasn’t a straight up comedy. Adam Sandler plays a comic who has made a rich but empty life, who then tries to befriend a useless comic. The first half of the film deals with a man struggling with a death sentence, Sandler holds our belief as a man who has come to terms with the end of his life. The comedy comes from Seth Rogan and his room mates who seem to have a pretty useless collection of lives. The Second half of the film is where I think many critics had problems. Sandler tries to get back with the only woman he ever loved, but it will ruin her life. Eric Bana provides a fantastic over the top performance as a husband blind to what is going on, his anger often come through with brilliant consequences. The films ends with everything not fixed and I think thats what makes it worth a watch.

8 ) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the lesson in Puberty. Oh god the acting is awful at times, mainly between the three leads. Michael Gambon does the good old, I don’t really want to be here, I’m meant to be a great actor. The love story between Harry and Ginny is painful, and the same goes for the Ron/lavender one. Though the Ron/Hermione story arc which has gone since film four is actually getting some pace. Alan Rickman and Tom Felton are the reason this film rises so high. Malfoy is truly a tortured soul and we finally see him for the bullied and betrayed teenager he is. Oh Snape, we all know the truth now, and so Rickman has more fun making him as vile as possible. I will admit the end was very sad and moved me close to tears. An okay film brought forward by two very strong supporting roles.

7) Avatar
Yes the graphics are amazing and nothing like this has been done before,  but like Star Wars there’s too much on-screen. I saw this film in 3D, it added nothing, i don’t care about depth on-screen, try depth in story. Right the Story isn’t bad it’s just a recap of dances with wolves. I could see everything coming, except for one massive moment. There didn’t seem to be great chemistry between the two leads. And then theres the dry hump scene, Cameron YOU IDIOT there was no need. I didn’t want to watch two blue people dry hump. The last battle was enjoyable as Cameron understands that anyone can die. A good film, but nowhere near as good as the hype.

6) Adventureland
A film where everyone’s lives are fucked up. Boy has no money so has to get job at tacky amusement park where everything is fixed. When there he meets a girl (the one from Twilight) and falls in live. She has a bad home life and so is sleeping with someone else. Basically a coming of age film, with stong performances from the two leads. From the directors of Superbad which is also n amazing coming of age film. It’s what they do best. Lots of vomit, drinking and drugs. Oh, how they love the drugs. Fantastic film.

5) UP
Oh how i love PIXAR and always will. UP is probably one of the best PIXAR films as well. An old man has put of going to South Africa all his life. When he is faced with eviction, he ties thousands of balloons to his house and takes off, unfortunately he gains an unwanted visitor. Like all PIXAR films it has a strong life lesson about the more important things in life. One of the highlights belongs to Russel and Doug “Hey do some trick SIT, LIE TALK” “Hello”. Classic. The film as usual has many little winks at other great films, with the ending owing much to Indiana Jones and other Zephyr films. Unforgetable like the other top 5.

4) Where the Wild Things Are.
Where to start, this film made me: laugh, cry, feel guilty and fall in love with the main characters. Max has a trouble home life, so he runs away and creates a magical island with these giant creatures. He is quickly made king and sets out to rid all the unhappiness. You can’t fault the kid really but sadly he fails and the misery creeps back in. This film feels like a real work of love by the director and crew. Max Records holds the lead role in a truly spell-binding performance, and i mean it, he truly blew me away. The beasts each represent a part of Max’s personality: Carol(impulsiveness and charisma), Ira (Gentle pushover), Judith (aggressive downer), Alexander (belittled and abused), Douglas (Friendship) and K.W. (the loner). There is also a bull who represents Max’s thoughts and quietness. This  film is a one of a kind.

3) Star Trek
The blockbuster that broke my rules. Yes I am a nerd and so it was always going to be a film I would like but wow. The film caught me out, it was clever. Kirk was a drunk with real family issues, Spock was an outsider. They don’t get on for most of the film. Yes the action is hectic and all over the place; but Abrams was clever, he didnt put too many ships in and kept it more about the personal journeys of the main characters. Scotty was under used but when he was on screen boy did Simon Pegg have fun. Karl Urban took on the mantle of Dr. McCoy, and he breathes a new life into the character becoming Kirk’s best friend. Eric Bana (who may have been in the most films in my top 20) is again under used as the villain, but he needs to be 2D or I think we would sympathise with him too much. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto hold an amazing lead both taking their roles with a passion all actors should have for their characters. Well done Abrams and Pine.

2) Watchmen
Who watches the Watchmen? I did and I loved it. Where to start, it isn’t a simple good .vs. bad tale. It’s complicated the villain is doing something for the greater good. Oh how the greater good fucks us over. There is only one true superhero in Watchmen, Dr. Manhattan, who slowly comes to believe that he is a God and at the end has no real care for the human race. The real power of this film comes from Nite Owl and Rorschach, the voices of sanity. Rorschach is the only character who does not change through the film and though his methods are terrible and horrific he is still the only true good guy in the film. The film doesn’t leave anything to the imagination when it comes to the violence, including broken arms exploding from the flesh. this film is the most human a Superhero film has ever been and I truly feel for all the characters.  The greatest thing about Watchmen is that there is no happy ending, people die and thats it. The best films don’t have happy endings.

And yes folks we have made it. The best film of 2009 in my eyes was…

1) Public Enemies
There could be no other film in my eyes that deserves this title. Michael Mann’s epic thriller based on the 8 week crime spree of John Dillinger and how Melvin Purvis tried to stop him. This film looks amazing, it was shot in digital and so everything is stark and detailed. The film actually feels like the 1930s depression. When robbing a bank a man offers Dillinger his money but he refuses “You, should keep that” The fire fights are breathtaking and when someone is hit you see the pain shoot through their body in High Definition. The true praise has to go to the leads. A powerful film has powerful acting. Johnny Depp finally recovers from his shite performances as Jack Sparrow in Pirates, with a fan boy performance as Dillinger (he doesn’t hide the fact, that Dillinger was his hero as a child), if you don’t care for him by the end of the film you really aint been paying enough attention. Christian bale doesn’t do that stupid voice and I love him for that, he shows us what a wonderful actor he really is, no tantrums. Marion Cotillard plays Dillinger’s lover who is swept up in his mad life, by the end she is the one who is left with the mess and a destroyed life. Another strength is that this film doesn’t rely on stupid action scenes to push the story forward or metallic balls(yes Transformers 2 makes its way through this review) but a heart breaking tale of how one man tries to stand up against the normal way of life and in those 8 weeks lived more than most people will in their entire life. Mann you absolute genius.

wow finished, better get off and watch some films in 2010. Bye and thanks for reading.

20) District 9 
I never got to see District 9 but if i had not thought to include it then well, it would have been Transformers that would have got in. And i really don’t like those balls. District 9 looks very clever comparing the apartied in South Africa to an alien race. It does what good Sci-fi films do, hides the real world in a made up world. Empire gave it 4 stars.

19) Angels and Demons
I’m a fan of the book, i think it’s much better than the Da Vinci Code which was just trying to be controversal. Oh My Days! Tom Hanks is useless in both the films, he doesn’t play clever people well. And thats what the rest of the film feels like. One of my favourite actors Ewan Mcgregor is so out of place it’s painful. The Action bounces all over the place without really linking itself together. The only reason i liked this film was at times it lived up to the breathless adventure the book had, with Langdon fighting for his own life more than he did in Da Vinci Code

18) Time Traveller’s Wife
When I saw this I hadn’t yet read the book so i thought that the story was very clever and well done. I thought the characters were fleshed out and it wasn’t that bad a film. Oh, then I read the book. The film is so poor compared to it, the big shock is mush better delivered in the book. I have nothing to say on film which is actually an awful adaption of a decent book. There are some questions on bad men with children in it.

17) Terminator Salvation.
Sticking to my rule that Summer Blockbusters are loud and crass. The thing that makes this film noticable is not that the action is fast and crazy but the performance from Sam Worthington as a face from a previous terminator. He manages to create a slightly 3D character on a 2D world. Thats quite amusing as his other big film this year was Avatar. Christian Bale plays Batman..not John Connor

16) 5oo days of summer.
A clever little Indie flick that does the Boy meets Girl, Boy falls in love, Girl breaks his heart with a new fresh look. The performances from the leads are likeable. Zooey Deschannel plays the free spirit perfectly, though I can see her being like that in real life. The “love” is fuelled over a mutual love of music and Morriesey/The Smiths. The sound track is worth a good listen and short burst of name the track. “It’s love, not Santa Claus”

15) Franklyn
Franklyn is a clever Noir film that plays the alternative reality card. It plays it well. The story is basically 4 seperate “unconnected” characters trying to make sense of the world and of course they are pulled together for a powerful finalle. Bernard Hill is the stand out character who is searching for his lost son, it is very easy to contect to him. The masked vigilante scenes play out like Batman but without the stupid annoying voice.  A thought provoking film.

14) The Dammed United
Michael Sheen plays Brian Clough. What’s not to like? The story though based on real events has been given poetic license. Sheen gives a powerful perfomance as a Cloughie, though his performance in Frost/Nixon overshadows this. He manages to show an arrogant and egotisitcal character who tries to do the right thing at Leeds United by stopping them playing dirty, he is undone by the clubs loyalty to the ex-manager. Timothy Spall proves he still has a fantastic acting by playing Cloughies right hand man, the sparring between the two is what makes this film so good.

13) Fantastic Mr Fox
ITS NOT A KIDS FILM. I will punch the next person who thinks it is. Just because the characters are animated does not make it a film for children. If anything they won’t like it, the jokes are all aimed at adults who are aware of the current financial climate. From my opinion, the film plays out very differently to the short story that I love. The voice acting is impressive with some beleavable dialogue. The film is crazy though, don’t miss that. It’s off the walls crazy. Wes Anderson Crazy.

12) Frost/Nixon
The other Michael Sheen Film. Pure Brilliance. It’s based on the play starring the same actors. Michael Sheen plays David Frost, the hard interviewer who tries to break the inpentrable Richard Nixon. The film is amazing, it is the interveiw and recaps part of Frost’s presidental run. Of all the films on the first half of the list this is the film to watch.

11) Boat That Rocked
The collection of stars deliver a zany veiw on the illegal pirate radio stations. Noteable performances come from Philip Seymour Hoffman as The Count, its clear that he had great fun taking the role, Bill Nighy manages once again to get the role that he loves where he gets to stick his head round doors and reveal terrible news (Oh we love him for it), Nick Frost plays…Nick Frost. Kenneth Branagh and Jack Davenport have fun on the main land as the men causing the shut down of pirate radio. The soundtrack is to die for with brilliant tunes all from 60s. There isn’t a better sound track in the list.  Time of love man, time of love.

Right, half way there. Tune in next time folks for one of the least exciting countdowns of the year.

That little extra will be my top ten albums of the year, i don’t care about being right, these ten albums have been my favourites this year.

10) White Lies: To Lose My Life

9) A Day to remember: Homecoming.

The Fray: The Fray

7)Snow Patrol: Up to Now

6)Noah and The Whale: The First Days of Spring

5) Gaslight Anthem: The 59 sound

4) Blur: Midlife

3)Frank Turner: The First three Years

2) Muse: Resistance

1) Frank Turner: Poetry of the Deed

Time to bulldozer onto what i really wanted to moan about and that is how ignorant people are these days. I am beginning to turn into a grumpy old man and so am seeing lots of annoying stuff. My group of friends are beginning a new plan called “excess baggage”. The only way this plan can work is if people are ignorant and don’t notice, God I hope it works. Why do people not stop and think about what they are doing/saying, just a little casual word can have devastating effects in so many ways.

Now Facebook, the shelter from my GCSEs (probably cost me some A*s). I am now fed up with the amount of generic groups people are joining “When i wake up, i get dressed” or “I love it when something happens” there really is no need and its clogging up my news feed which i really want to use to be nosey and read peoples’ statuses, but no theres got to be John joined “I like you but i am too scared to speak to you so I just act awkward near you and so i make an ass of my self” (Grow up that happens to all of you moron). Statuses annoy me as well at times “Why the hell are people always Dicks?!?” To me this says two things about this person a) They are trying to get attention and so it’s not actually that serious or b) they are looking for an argument in front   of everyone. NO go away and do it in bloody private!

I just realised my blogs called Life of an Adventurer, so i should right about an adventure sort of thing. My Partner in Crime and I are planning on running the Pennine Way for charity. For those not in the know thats 270 miles which is bloody long, but it’s for a good cause so it’s totally worth it. I may just be insane XD or just really up for a decent adventure

Goodbye till next time.

 Basically today we had a talk about Road Safety, this scared the shit out of everyone in the room, as basically the talk showed us that we would either kill someone or die ourselves. What a brilliant thing to tell a load of Sixth Formers who are all going to learn to drive in the near future. We saw a car chopped up so that the fire service could rescue a “trapped” person inside. What stuck with me most though was a talk given to us by a woman who had lost her own son to a drunk driver who showed no remorse in what he had done.

Firstly this story made me sick to my soul, at how a young man so full of life had it ripped away from him  by someone so selfish as to get behind the wheel while hammered out of his face. The worst thing was that he drove off because he was terrified that he would get into trouble. This man makes me wonder why we even bother at times, there is no need for good deeds or good people when bastards will just steal it away from us. The quote at the top though from Harry Potter is correct and it’s because of love, we go on in this world because we love our friends and our family. Yes I know, i am being cheesy but it needs to be said.

The woman whose son was killed was devastated by the death of her son was so because of Love. She loved him in  a way that only a mother can love a child. We only know how good we have things once we have lost it. This fact though highlights that we choose to believe we are alone in the world until the day we truly are!

On the news the other day the first 5 articles were all to do with death, this put me in a negative mood. When we were young did we just not pay attention or was it just a happier world 10 years ago? Sadly I think the world has always been filled with terror and i am only just starting to notice it. The big thing now is the amount of responsibility i am now being asked to take on is actually scary that these people would trust me ( the guy who read a burning newspaper).  My group of friends are my escape from the horrors of the modern world, they are incredibly surreal.

We live in a terrible and scary world but we all cling to the days of innocence in hope that they will save us from realising the true nature of the race that we are. Sorry for this negative post but its just what i have noticed recently in my young days of sixth form.

The weekend started Friday evening with me visiting my canoe club to sell a boat onwards. This gave me strange joy as i managed to realise that my joy for kayaking is only growing stronger though i have spent less and less time in an actual boat. One day i will do an entire blog just on the immense Macclesfield and District Canoe Club. Moving swiftly onwards i also met on with some of my closest friends and spent some in the local town. This resulted with us playing american football  on our school field in the dark, many clever tactics meant that the quicker people just sprinted off into the distance never to be stopped.

Ah now we come to Saturday. It all began with a simple orienteering trip to the Schools league somewhere in Wales. I competed on the Green Course which for anyone who does not know is the highest level at the school’s league events. I actually did pretty poorly with a simple map error i found myself a long way from where i wanted to be. This was rather humorous when i returned to the start and found everyone so competitive, they all disagree with my way of not taking a great deal of things seriously. In the evening i attended the movie Fame with a few of my friends. The film was not as bad as i was expecting it to be and i then found myself singing and dancing outside the cinema.

Today on this most brilliant of days i have already placed the deposit on my Glastonbury ticket which has of course put me in a fantastic mood, i am looking forward to both Glastonbury and a Muse concert in November. Later tonight i will be going to the NME Radar Tour which gives smaller bands (Golden silvers and Marina and the diamonds) the chance to play to crowds and then make it onto the main scene. I have a feeling that Lower Sixth is going to be a fantastic year that hopefully will stick in my mind for the rest of my hopefully long and exciting life.